How to Jog in Place to Lose Weight

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MAGGIE MCCORMICK Last Updated: Feb 04, 2016

Maggie McCormick

Maggie McCormick is a freelance writer. She lived in Japan for three years teaching preschool to young children and currently lives in Honolulu with her family. She received a B.A. in women's studies from Wellesley College.

Get in shape while jogging in place.Photo Credit LIVESTRONG.COM

Jogging in place can be an effective way to burn calories, helping you to lose weight. It's easier to do than jogging outside or on a treadmill, and the fact that you can do it inside — away from the heat in summer and the cold in winter — can help you stick to this as an exercise routine. If jogging in place is your exercise of choice, it's important to do it at an intensity that gets your heart pumping. If you challenge yourself, you can burn more than 500 calories per hour.

Step 1

Warm up with a light jog. Lift your feet only an inch or two off the ground, hopping from foot to foot. Give yourself a few bear hugs to warm up your upper body.

Step 2

Move your arms as you jog. The more you move your body, the more calories you'll burn as you work out. Engaging your arms is an effective way to up the burn.

Step 3

Lift your knees higher to increase your heart rate. If you want to really get your heart pumping, you can bring your knees up high — your thighs should be parallel with the ground.

Step 4

Increase your speed as well. The faster you jog in place, the more intense your workout will be.

Step 5

Alternate periods of intensity with periods of recovery. It can be difficult to sustain high-intensity phases for a long time, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do them. Work out as hard as you can for as long as you can and then bring it down to an easier jog to recover.

Step 6

Incorporate strength training moves into your jogging workout. The disadvantage of jogging in place is that it doesn't offer the same resistance and muscle-building benefits that you would receive if you were jogging outside or on a treadmill with an incline. Make up for this by doing body weight moves like squats, lunges and pushups in the middle of your workout.

Step 7

Create a schedule for exercising and stick to it. The more often you do your jogging in place routine, the more calories you'll burn and the more weight you'll lose. The American Heart Association recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week to maintain your weight — you should do more if you want to lose weight. You can combine jogging in place with other types of activities.

Warnings

Jogging in place alone may not be enough to make you lose weight. You should combine exercise with a healthy diet.

Tips

Wear a heart rate monitor to check your heart rate as you exercise. This will ensure that you are working out hard enough to lose weight.

Eliminate boredom by jogging in place as you watch your favorite TV programs.